Someone Fresh, HONEYDEW

14. Hate and Love

Eben's pov

Y/n and her housemate began to pack up their stuff from their apartment. The apartment belonged to a group that set college students up with housemates and provided furnished apartments to rent, so majority of the furniture didn't belong to either girl.

Because of this, Y/n had to completely furnish her new place. We all offered to help with whatever we could. That was how we all ended up building a lot of Ikea furniture. When I say a lot, I mean a lot.

An entire house worth to be precise.

The most interesting part of the whole process was the home studio. Y/n bought enough wall-length mirrors to cover two of the walls. One of the mirrored walls had a cupboard built into the wall.

"It's like a secret room," I joked.

"Except it will be full of dance equipment..." Y/n smiled.

The biggest challenge had been to find a ballet rail thing that didn't need to be bolted into the wall or floor but would still be stable. Y/n eventually succeeded, and the rail was installed.

Y/n vlogged throughout the whole process, and all of us were in and out of her vlogs as we helped her. There was an extensive amount of footage of us goofing off that didn't make the final cut. Y/n joked she would release the most embarrassing clips on our birthdays.

After a week of building furniture, arranging and rearranging rooms,and hanging curtains, pictures, and so on, Y/n decided it was time to start bringing over her possessions.

Soon the living room was filled with boxes to be unpacked.

One particular day it was just me and her unpacking, because Why Don't We were all in the studio, and Anna and Gabbie both had things on. I had just finished unpacking a box of books onto the shelf in her new bedroom, and I went to find her to ask her for another job.

She was standing in the middle of the boxes, staring at her phone. I was about to make some joke about doing all the work, when she looked up and saw me. I didn't miss the silent tears she quickly brushed away in hopes they would go unnoticed.

"Y/n? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I- I- I shouldn't let it get to me like this." She avoided eye contact, looking down.

"Let what get to you?"

"It's fine," she began, and then gave in with a sigh. "Some hater sent this DM... I should ignore it, but it kinda really hurt." She turned on her phone and read: "You're such a clout chaser. Like if it wasn't for Why Don't We and Eben you wouldn't have any followers. No one else other than their fans even watch your dumb videos. And even they only do it to see all the people you use for clout. Think that dating Eben will get you a following do you? Hahah you're so funny. And stupid. I bet you'll just dump him as soon as you've used him enough. Also, you need to lose some weight if you want to be a dancer. As in, you're a bad dancer anyway, but if you want to be a try-hard, you should at least try and look the part. I wish you would die."

Her voice cracked on the last word, and tears began streaming down her face.

I felt so angry, but instead of saying anything, I pulled her into my arms and hugged her tight, letting her cry on my chest. I didn't even care that my t-shirt was getting wet.

After a while her crying slowed.

"I know it hurts," I said softly. "It makes me so mad that people would say those things about you. Lies. Every single word in that message was a lie." I hugged her tighter, unsure what else to say.

I kept holding her until she finally very gently pushed away.

"Thank you," She whispered. Then she looked down at all the boxes on the floor. "Maybe we should tackle another box?"

We worked away at her ornaments and trinkets. Every single one had a story behind it, and I felt I got to know her even better with every dance trophy, china horse, music box, or necklace.

Later that night, after I'd gone home, I couldn't stop thinking about the hate message. I decided to send her a DM of my own.

You're such a hard working person, and inspiration to so many, especially young girls who are too afraid to dream. You've built an amazing channel and fan base of your own, and that's paid off in you meeting people whose fans have chosen to follow you too. So many people watch your videos for you, your personality, your smile, your warmth. All your videos are you being yourself, and your positive energy is contagious. You make me smile and laugh. There's rarely a dull moment when one's around you. You're one of the most genuine and real people I know. It's hard to find genuine, real people, especially here in LA, where so many people are just trying to make it, to use every opportunity to better themselves, never thinking about others. You cheer on, promote, and encourage others because you really really actually meant it. Even if it doesn't benefit you in any way. Whenever I've seen you dance, I've been amazed. Blown away. You put your soul into it and it shows. I never thought that someone dancing from their heart could make me tear up. But you did it. You make dancing look so easy and effortless. When I count my blessings, you being in my life is at the top of the list. People who want to tear you down and walk on you are jealous of how happy you are. If I was that insecure I would be too. Thank you for being one of the best friends I have. 

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Okay but seriously, DON'T HATE ON PEOPLE ONLINE. Like if I catch ANY of you hating on especially Franny and Kay rn I will have a word with you. Just because they have a platform doesn't mean you can bully them. Just because you thought Daniel/Zach or whoever was yours doesn't mean they can't date someone. They deserve to be HAPPY

And this also goes for people you don't like. They're people too :)